ISLAND VOICES

Minimum wage removes first rungs of success ladder

By Cliff Slater

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 19, 2013

~~<p>One can laud the intentions behind raising the minimum wage, but the outcome of a hike only harms those it intends to help.</p><p>As the University of Hawaii Economic Organization wrote recently, &quot;As an antipoverty tool the minimum wage is undoubtedly inefficient. There is surprisingly little correlation between a worker earning the minimum wage and living in poverty. Approximately one-third of the minimum wage workers in the U.S. are teenagers and not heads of households. Furthermore, most teenagers earning below the minimum wage are not members of poor families.&quot;</p>~~

One can laud the intentions behind raising the minimum wage, but the outcome of a hike only harms those it intends to help.

As the University of Hawaii Economic Organization wrote recently, "As an antipoverty tool the minimum wage is undoubtedly inefficient. There is surprisingly little correlation between a worker earning the minimum wage and living in poverty. Approximately one-third of the minimum wage workers in the U.S. are teenagers and not heads of households. Furthermore, most teenagers earning below the minimum wage are not members of poor families." Login for more...